History, As Is Written

Posted on 29 Feb 2024 @ 6:32pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral

2,718 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: USS Galileo-A - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 01, 1620 hrs

[ON]

Blake's chair was turned towards the large viewport, her legs crossed and her padd resting in her lap as she watched the spacescape. It felt like they were in a kaleidoscope. Full of a million broken, fractured pieces. And one little twist this way or that would shift the entire picture.

The doors hissed open as Toren walked in, his usual confident gait hampered slightly by the burden of the current circumstances. He was about to find a place to make himself comfortable when he noticed the occupied chair by the window. He cautiously approached until he could see who it was, his antennae twitching as soon as he recognised Blake. "Commander," his gravelly tone pierced the silence, "I see the stars are still shining brightly under your watch."

Blake looked across to Toren with an almost absent look before coming back to the moment. She chuckled softly, turning her chair fully back to the table. "They say they're the sentinels out here, the one constant that doesn't change. I suppose we might end up testing that theory to its limit."

It was a good response. Toren gave her a respectful nod then sat heavily in a nearby seat.

Allyndra's mind was not fully on this task. She was thinking about what and how she was going to convince the Council of Mothers to allow the Federation to examine the workings of one of their long-hidden away ships. She had heard that a few incursions into that area, ships tended to just disappear. "Gee, I wonder why?" she talked to herself as she entered.

Having had barely a few minutes to herself with being around Tarin and Saalm discussing things by themselves and a few other small things over the last hour Jeysa entered the observation lounge carrying a large mug of tea; the most she'd been able to find time to get, hopefully none of the senior officers would object to her asking to get some food if the meeting went on too long. "Commanders, chief." She greeted the rest of the ships command team and quickly found a seat.

Allyndra was pulled out of her thoughts as Jeysa came in. She briefly acknowledged her.

Blake nodded back to Jeysa, pulling her chair up closer to the table. She tapped a button on her PADD, sending the basic timeline they'd been provided on to the bigger screen in the form of a scrolling line with dates and short descriptions. "You should have all had time to look at the information Admiral Saalm has given us on the events that have taken place between our own time and this one," she motioned with her PADD to indicate the PADDs that had been sent to each of them with the same information. "Does anyone have any initial impressions or thoughts?"

Toren's bright eyes locked on to the screen for a time, taking in the magnitude of the situation more than reading individual entries. He had known it was bleak before recieving the full timeline, but the reality had been worse than he could have imagined. He leaned forward and affixed his eyes on Blake, "Well Commander, I always said history was written by the victors, but this reads more like a tragedy penned by the losers. Makes you wonder if the historians were having a particularly bad day." His antennae twitched slightly and he frowned, "There's an old saying on Andoria: 'May your enemies' plans be as clear as ice.' Seems like we could have used a bit more clarity and a lot less ice over these last 25 years."

"I must say that I have a hard time seeing how the research or the destruction and then the ensuing events came to this resolution. It would appear to be something that was nothing more than an excuse for long-standing problems. Let's say that things are changed. If they can, would that produce ultimately a different result, or would it simply take another bit of disagreement to again bring about the same result?" Allyndra mused.

"I agree with your concerns," Blake admitted openly, moving to stand as she zoomed the timeline on the screen into the events in question. "The data is destroyed here," she motioned with a hand to the marker that showed the date and brief description. "We later move to a point where Starfleet are directly asked to acknowledge the existence of Cold Base 31. For some reason, Starfleet refused to admit that the base even existed. Now...my concern is...if their first reaction was to deny the base existed and cover it up *without* having data to protect, then what is going to stop them from doing the exact same thing again when they *do* have that data to protect? If their instinct was to cover it up when they had less at stake, what is going to change that attitude when they have data they absolutely do not want to fall into another power's hands? The same thing could very well end up happening all over again if they still decide to cover it up."

"Commander, I think you've laid out what is really the crux of the matter. I don't think it is the data so much as the Federation's attempt to cover things up. Who knows what rumors and such might have gone around outside of Federation space? A cover-up concerning what appeared to be long-range transport. Such a thing could destabilize the power structure," Allyndra offered while she thought, "And why we never revealed the existence of our Fold Ships."

"But then..." Toren responded, his thought not quite fully formed, "Once it was clear the Federation didn't have that keen edge to its blade... Why the continued escalation?" He shook his head, "There's more than a little missing from this tale," he gestured to the scrolling timeline, "Why the fixation on th-"

Before he could finish the sentence, a notification sounded across the lounge, alerting Blake to an incoming transmission. The First Officer glanced around the others with mild confusion for a moment before nodding to no one in particular. "I'll be back as soon as possible, please, continue..." she made her way out with a brisk pace, to get to her office for some privacy.

Toren nodded to Blake as she left, then finished his interrupted thought, "Why the fixation on the Cold Station files in particular? How would keeping them intact give the Federation an edge?"

"I am guessing, and it is only a guess, that even though highly unethical, not deleting the files indicates the data is available and could be shared." Allyndra speculated. "Supposedly, all this came from a Romulan agent that went back and, when the Federation was confronted, didn't have the data and thus was hiding it, working on it, or who knows. Tell you the truth after experiencing that odd dimension or whatever it was, they're welcome to it."

The ongoing topical discussion surrounding Galileo-A's arrival into the future timeline and the historical records of the 25th century suddenly came to an interrupted halt not too long after it had just begun. "Tarin to Blake, Warraquim, Ghemora and all senior NCOs and officers. Report to the bridge immediately!" sounded the captain's voice through the ship's comm channel.

Hearing the urgency of the message, Toren nodded to the surrounding officers then took off towards the door, his antennae pressed back against his head.

Quickly downing what was left of her tea Jeysa got up and headed for the door, she hadn't heard this much tension in Tarin's voice before so whatever it was it had to be important.

"Ah the hurry up and wait. No matter, hopefully nothing too serious." Allyndra turned to head out with the others.

~~~~~~

It was some time before Blake returned to the now empty Observation Lounge. A tight breath escaped her as she retook her seat, the events with Aria Rice still weighing heavy for a moment. She took a few moments to herself, her hands lifting to press her thumbs to where the bridge of her nose became her furrowed brow. And she knew that things were only going to get worse. Her eyes closed, she used the silence to centre herself before hitting her commbadge to call Toren, Jeysa and Allyndra back to the lounge.

"Tension headache? I would imagine. A good shot of your favourite alcoholic beverage is the doctor's orders." Allyndra quipped as she entered.

Despite everything, Blake managed a soft chuckle at the words, motioning to her as she sat back in her chair. "I'll hold you to that prescription, Doctor..."

Toren walked back in looking no worse for wear than he had on the bridge. Verbal assault aside, he was content with what he had said to the Captain. Words that she certainly needed to hear, and mull over. "Commanders," he said in his usual gravelly tone as he regained his seat, "Lots left to unpick I'd imagine."

"I will put that in the official medical log." Allyndra paused as Toren walked in. "And double for you. Doctor's orders for favorite alcoholic beverage."

"If we had any alcohol to hand out." Jesya remarked.

"While officially all we have is synthol....well let's say that there is always private stock. Anyway, back to the problem at hand and then maybe a little get together later," Allyndra replied.

"I approve of said plan," Blake admitted softly with a small smile, trying to convey a lightness that she didn't feel. "I know we're now facing a very different situation with the Praxis having left. But let's try to focus back on our task and leave that to later. So we're agreed that we're concerned that changing one fixed point around the exchange of data will not be enough to prevent war when taking all the other factors into account. Were there any other moments of concern or interest that jumped out?"

Toren sucked air in through his bottom teeth, his face taking on a pensive expression, "Well we can see a pretty significant diplomatic breakdown goin' on in the course of 2393," his gravelly tone had an air of disappointment, "I just don't get how the Federation could've let the Klingons slip through their fingers. It was a coup to secure that alliance in the first place..." He shook his head, "Coverin' things up is always a mistake. Amateurish."

"I have to agree that there is something more going on than just the cover-up of the files. What did the Romulans offer the Klingons to become allies? I am not sure who hates who the worst between those two. In fact, I am surprised that the two factions with the basic defeat of the Federation haven't turned on each other." Allyndra made a rolling shrug. "I think there is something else that we have not been made aware of that happened to cause the Klingons to bolt and ally with the Romulans. Secondly, what is keeping them together? The Federation is no longer a threat; what are they gaining? Territory? Resources? Neither of them has a history of sharing."

"I'd reckon the Romulans would be thinkin' that they have done some grand manipulation to keep the Klingons in check." Toren said, nodding his head at the fine points the Akkadian commander had raised, "But for the Klingons themselves... that's a trickier one. Maybe there's enough fighting yet to keep them occupied..."

"It sure would be nice if Rice and company returned with some data on what the current situation is," Allyndra said. "Anyway, so supposedly, the Cold Station was all about long-range transport. The Romulans might have gotten the Klingons to believe that they had developed it further. If you could suddenly put a photon torpedo in the middle of Klingon council, it would make them sit up."

Toren's antennae twitched thoughtfully, "Aye," he nodded, "Seems like the sorta thing they'd toy with. Misinformation." He leaned back in his chair with a somewhat pensive expression, "Do we have evidence they haven't actually made some leap in it? It seems like the sort those Tal Shiar types would like. Cloak and dagger. Not to use for the fleet but for their... special operations?"

"They say you can't prove a negative, but in this case? I'd have thought that any real breakthrough would have been put to use in the war effort. And as far as we know at least, that kind of capability hasn't been on display..." Blake glanced down to the padd on the table with a frown. Because in reality, they had no idea just how edited the story they were being given was. "But I agree entirely. The only thing that Klingons and Romulans could agree on was just how much they hated each other. I know that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but it would have taken something really special to get the Klingons to even consider calling themselves the ally of the Romulans. I'll request more intel around the alliance, see if we can dig deeper."

"If I remember my history the Klingons and Romulans have had an alliance before," Jeysa remarked. "A big tech exchange, the Klingons got cloaking devices and they gave the Romulans a few ship designs, I don't think it lasted very long but it shows they can get along if they have a common enemy.... Us at the time."

"That is true, but they don't have a history. It would seem that with the defeat of the Federation that they should be at each other's throats already. There is something that is keeping this alliance together. I wonder, if the Romulans are lying to the Klingons about what came from the Cold Station. Let's imagine that the Romulans said, that they got long-range transport. Showed the Klingons some data to support that, made the alliance, but now are holding it over the Klingons to keep them in line. What would happen if the Klingons found out differently? If that is the case, what if the full data got leaked to them" Allyndra offered her thoughts.

Toren gave a grunt of approval, nodding at his fellow officers, "Definitely sounds like the sort of skullduggary Romulans would get up to." His eyes rested on the scrolling timeline in front of them, "You'd have thought they'd have managed to get something from the data in the past couple of decades though? Even if it wasn't transportation. I wonder how far the Romulans have delved into this other dimension..."

It took a great deal of effort for Blake to suppress the shiver that tried to work its way up her spine at that particular idea. "We should hope not at all," she said quietly but firmly, shaking her head at the very prospect. "If there is such a thing as evil, it lived there."

"Perhaps the Romulans sent a few Klingons there and said, cooperate or else," Allyndra mused.

"A terrifying prospect," Blake tilted her head towards Allyndra at the words, quite literally shaking her head to shake the thought away. "The truth is, we don't know how much they know. Mulder and Quil told us they were engaged to achieve transwarp, but they failed...they called the portal to the other place an accident, that came off the back of pursuing a quantum theory. If what they say is true, and they had gone off on a tangent, we don't even know if they documented that line of experimentation. And we don't know how much of the data we have is the same as the data the spy had..." she motioned to Toren at that. "But for the sake of safety, it is better to assume they have all of it and be pleasantly surprised if that turns out to be wrong, rather than the other way around," she conceded, even if she dreaded to think it.

Toren sucked air in through his teeth and nodded, "Hope for the best an' prepare for the worst."

[OFF]

--

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

MCPO Toren Vral
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]

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